Highway embezzlement hearing gets 2nd suspension

A  preliminary hearing for former Ministers of Public Works Federico Suárez and Jaime Ford and nine other people for the for alleged embezzlement in the construction of the Arraiján-La Chorrera highway was suspended for the second time on Tuesday August 17 by defense legal maneuvers.

The highway project had a cost of $161.8 million and was assigned to the company TransCaribe Trading, SA (TCT).

The presentation of an appeal for annulment before the Second Court of Justice against a decision of the Third Court for Criminal Proceedings not to accept an appeal for annulment of the process forced the suspension of the preliminary hearing.

The hearing was suspended for the first time on July 20, but the presentation of legal resources by two defense attorneys prevented it from taking place.

In October 2018, the Discharge Anticorruption Prosecutor forwarded to the Judicial Branch the tax hearing in which it requested a trial for 11 people, among whom are Suárez, Ford and TCT directors David and Daniel Ochy.

Six former public servants were also requested to be brought to trial, including two former officials of the Ministry of Public Works, in charge of supervising the expansion, four inspectors from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, among others.

According to the investigation, the TCT company allegedly gave funds from the State payments for the highway to private companies, such as New Business (investigated for money laundering), to deputies of the National Assembly, corporations, individuals and public servants.

The court is waiting for the Second Court to resolve the appeal to set a new preliminary hearing date.